Chesapeake Crab Dip

Almost every Chesapeake family has a recipe for crab dip. None of them vary terribly much and they all are fairly simple. In fact, most crab recipes in this region are simple and have few ingredients that let the sweetness of the crab shine through. Whenever I see a recipe for a Traditional Maryland Crab recipe, I always look at the length of the ingredients. If it's long, it's not traditional. If it has thyme or jalapenos, it's not from Maryland. But hey, we don't know how to make a good Brooklyn bagel here, either. Thank goodness even Walmart can't mass-distribute everything local. Some things will always be better from the source :)

Crab dip is very rich and is nice served in a bread bowl or even in a casserole dish. A common restaurant offering is Steak or Burgers Chesapeake, in which they are topped with some version of this (often called Crab Imperial).

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound Maryland crab meat.
1 package cream cheese (eight ounces), softenend
3/4 cup sour cream
2/3 cup real, good quality mayonnaise
1 teaspoon capers, drained and chopped (optional, not traditional)
1 tablespoon Worchester
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
2/3 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon paprika


DIRECTIONS:

1 – Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove crab meat from container and into bowl, a little bit at a time, carefully picking through for shells. If it is machine-picked, there will be considerably more shells and you will need to be a bit more thorough. Set aside.

2 – In separate, large bowl, mix together cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, capers, Worchester, mustard and Old Bay Seasoning.

3 – Gently fold cleaned crab meat into this mixture. Place into bread bowl or oven safe bowl.

4 – Top with cheddar and paprika. Cook in oven for about ten minutes or until the dip is bubbly and cheese is melted.

~ Serve with thin slices of crusty French bread, pita chips, or an assortment of crackers. ~



Recipe makes Twenty-six ¼ cup servings. Nutritional data per serving:

**Nutritional data calculated per ingredients and is deemed close but not exact.***